Israeli minister presents execution facility for Palestinian prisoners
By douglasharrington // 2026-08-21
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Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Tuesday that Israel is building an execution facility for Palestinian prisoners sentenced to death on terrorism charges. According to video footage presented by the minister, the facility is housed in a newly built death-row wing at a prison in central Israel; the exact location was not disclosed. Ben-Gvir said the complex includes viewing booths where crime victims and their families can witness hangings, an option he described as customary in many countries, according to RT [1]. The minister announced the project in a video shared on Telegram, Middle East Eye reported [2]. "We promised – we are keeping it," Ben-Gvir said in the footage [2]. The video shows Ben-Gvir pointing to the construction site, which he said will be used to hang Palestinian prisoners, according to Middle East Eye [3].

Facility and Death Penalty Law

The facility is to be used under the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law, which the Knesset passed in March after being championed by Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party. The law mandates capital punishment for those convicted of deadly attacks aimed at ending Israel's existence; executions must be carried out within 90 days of sentencing, and there is no right of appeal. Critics say the provision effectively exempts Jewish Israelis, making the law applicable almost exclusively to Palestinians, according to the report [1]. "We are making history. Terrorists deserve only one thing – death by hanging," Ben-Gvir stated in the video, according to the report [1]. The minister said the facility fulfills promises he made to supporters. "I promised to worsen the conditions of terrorists in prisons – we kept it. I promised to pass the death penalty law for terrorists," he said in the video [2]. Ben-Gvir has been sanctioned by multiple countries for repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians and argued last year that "there is no such thing as 'Palestinian people,'" according to the report. He and his party members wore noose-shaped lapel pins for months, and his 50th birthday cake in May featured a noose, the report stated [1]. The Knesset's National Security Committee approved an earlier version of the bill in 2025, allowing courts to impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis for "nationalistic" motives while exempting Israeli settlers in similar cases, according to NaturalNews [4]. Ben-Gvir previously called for executing Palestinian prisoners with a "shot to the head" in a 2024 video statement, the outlet reported [5].

Criticism and Court Challenge

Critics of the law, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, have called it "deeply discriminatory" and said its wording effectively applies almost exclusively to Palestinians. UN human rights experts warned that hanging is incompatible with the absolute prohibition on torture, while Israeli rights group B'Tselem said the method contributes to the dehumanization of Palestinians. Israeli lawmakers and rights groups, including Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel – petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the law as unconstitutional, according to the report [1]. The broader debate over capital punishment has included documented cases of executions carried out despite international legal objections. Author David McGowan described the 1998 execution of Paraguayan citizen Angel Francisco Breard, which proceeded despite an International Court of Justice order suspending it, as "a prime example of America's contempt for international law" [6]. Kerry Max Cook's book "Chasing Justice" recounts his two decades on death row for a crime he said he did not commit [7].

Historical and Prison Context

According to the report, Israel previously permitted capital punishment only in exceptional cases, including treason and Nazi-era war crimes, and has executed two people since its creation: an army officer in 1948 and Adolf Eichmann in 1962. No Palestinian prisoners have been sentenced to death since the law was approved, the report stated [1]. Israel is said to hold about 9,400 Palestinian prisoners, including nearly 100 women and more than 370 minors, according to media reports citing the Palestinian Prisoner Society. Rights groups have reported alleged abuse, torture, starvation, sexual violence and denial of medical treatment in Israeli prisons, and Israel is reportedly holding the bodies of more than 100 Palestinians who died in its custody, the report stated. The UN warned last week that the humanitarian and security situation in the region has reached a critical "breaking point," according to reports [1]. In February, the Israeli Prison Service began preparations to apply the death penalty, with Channel 13 reporting that prison authorities were building a "Green Mile" facility where executions would take place, according to Middle East Eye [8]. A Palestinian paramedic from Gaza, Hatem Ismail Rayyan, was announced in February to have died in the Negev prison over a year after his arrest, amid mounting allegations of torture, starvation and medical neglect [9]. A former Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza, Rom Braslavski, has separately asked Ben-Gvir to allow him to execute Palestinian detainees with his own hands, rejecting the use of a rope, according to Middle East Eye [10].

References

  1. "WATCH beaming Israeli security minister unveil execution facility for Palestinians". RT. August 19, 2026.
  2. "Israeli minister shows construction of dedicated execution unit for Palestinians". Middle East Eye. August 18, 2026.
  3. Nadav Rapaport. "Israel's Ben Gvir boasts of planned execution facility for Palestinian prisoners". Middle East Eye. August 19, 2026.
  4. Ramon Tomey. "Israels parliament advances bill allowing the DEATH PENALTY for Palestinian prisoners". NaturalNews.com. October 1, 2025.
  5. "Israeli national security minister calls for EXECUTION of Palestinian prisoners with shot to the head". NaturalNews.com. July 5, 2024.
  6. David McGowan. "Derailing Democracy The America the Media Dont Want You to See".
  7. Kerry Max Cook. "Chasing justice my story of freeing myself after two decades on death row for a crime I didnt commit".
  8. Mera Aladam. "Israeli prisons 'begin preparations to apply death penalty' for Palestinians". Middle East Eye. February 9, 2026.
  9. Mera Aladam. "Palestinian paramedic from Gaza dies in Israeli custody". Middle East Eye. February 13, 2026.
  10. Nadav Rapaport. "Former Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza asks Ben Gvir to let him execute Palestinian prisoners". Middle East Eye. August 18, 2026.

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